Gerrard proves he must take centre stage

As we say in the trade, a good one to miss. What a night it was to be an England player. Under intense pressure to get an emphatic result, with the massed travelling ranks booing every backward pass and the same fans leaving it only 20 minutes before hurling abuse at coach Steve McClaren, no one wearing white will want to return to Barcelona's Olympic Stadium in too much of a hurry.

Not after Andorra's part-timers threw their weight around in an unsubtle attempt to upset the visitors. Not when this scruffy occasion was played out in wet and windy conditions more reminiscent of a filthy night in Azerbaijan than a spring evening in Spain.

It must be enough for some players to think twice about playing for England with all the aggro, the criticism, the never-ending hassle. When today's multi-millionaire footballers temporarily swap successful club careers for this kind of fare, when they find themselves playing for, let's face it, an inferior team to the tightly knit Champions League versions, they must seriously wonder what's going on.

Everyone else did last night, that's for sure, as the 163rd-ranked team in the world did their best to make McClaren's life even more uncomfortable.

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Watching this scene unfold, the eye kept getting drawn back to Steven Gerrard, even before he opened the scoring to relief all round. Along with many of his compatriots, Liverpool's captain has endured an awkward time of late in trying to repeat club form for Queen and country.

Most recently, the goalless draw in Israel didn't show the midfielder at his happiest. Save for one or two terrific passes, he looked fairly disenchanted plonked out on the right. It was tempting (though maybe wrong) to conclude that the whole saga about him playing in the same side as Frank Lampard had somewhat worn him down, particularly with Lampard getting the nod in the middle. It must, therefore, have been a fairly strange feeling for him walking out last night without the Chelsea man by his side. After all, you have to go back to October 2003 and a feisty night in Turkey for England's last competitive match without the pair playing in tandem.

But with Lampard's broken wrist supposedly ruling him out (he was going to be dropped anyway, so went the whisper), Gerrard began in central midfield to try and secure a much-needed result.

Straight away, he looked 'up for it' as well. An early tackle on Jordi Escura left the midfielder reeling.

On the creative side, though, Gerrard started picking the ball up deep in an effort to get the team ticking over.

He was, what's more, finding that his opponents were prepared to put themselves about. For some reason, the wonderfully-named JC Toscano decided to aim a knee towards his opponent's head. Gerrard walked away, unwilling to bite back.

Then came his all-important first goal just after the break. Latching on to Wayne Rooney's knock-back, his right foot caught the bouncing ball with enough power and precision to beat the goalkeeper's grasp easily.

It was a typical Gerrard strike, seen so many times in the red of Liverpool, but not quite so often for the Three Lions. Warming to the theme now, he set about trying to make the scoreline a little more respectable. After going to ground a little easily in the penalty area, he slotted home comfortably following a neat one-two with Stewart Downing. David Nugent's tap-in brought events to a close.

Job done, no matter how ugly the shift. Gerrard, what's more, had answered the call in a way that must make McClaren think twice now about moving him away from that central slot. Yes, this was only Andorra but it did serve to cast Gerrard in his best light. For the June trip to Estonia, an intriguing decision awaits the coach. A good one to miss? Maybe not for Lampard.